"One might well become a holy fool oneself here! It's catching!"--Raskolnikov, from Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment.
Witness the musings of another Holy Fool, another follower of "God's own Fool."

Thursday, June 30, 2005

A Catholic Experience says, "Learn From Your Mother"

(hat tip [for the image of our Mother] to the great blogger who I "borrowed" this from. If you see this, email me, so I can credit you properly.)

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lonely servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel for he has remembered his promise of mercy, the promise he made to our fathers, to Abraham and his children for ever.

Mary models the path of discipleship like no other saint or apostle. She has always said yes to the Lord. She has questioned him, but she has always obeyed him. One time she even led the Lord by following him. Only the Mother of God could convince the Son to reveal his glory before he thought he was ready. Mary accomplished this by telling another to "do whatever he tells you." Mary has always said yes.

That is our mission as his disciples. We must always say yes to Jesus Christ. We must go wherever he sends us, do whatever he demands of us, be the person he calls us to be. Sure, it's difficult to give up our dream of our life. It's humiliating to die to ourselves when we live in a culture that worships ourselves. But have we suffered for our obedience as Mary has? Her heart was pierced by the sword all throughout her life. She even held her beloved son in her arms after others brought him down from the cross. She did not refuse our God even then. What would our excuse be to refuse him now?

About Me

I'm a humble Catholic revert and a proud American. But that's not what you really want to know, is it? You want to know about the Holy Fool thing, right? Well, while a certain mystique is good, I can say this: My wife calls me one all the time. It describes in a word the heart of my vocation. For today's fashion of reason suggests that God does not exist or does not matter. Whether by conscious principle or unconscious practice, many elites in society live such a belief in nothing publicly and consider themselves reasonable. That means living the Faith makes one a Fool. Then call me a Holy Fool! Would that I could spread my Foolishness to all the world! With your help, we will!